It is a necessary condition for the sustenance of fire; it is the
breath of life to animals; it is at least an instrument in vegetation;
and, while it contributes to give fertility and health to things that
grow, it is employed in preventing noxious effects from such as go into
corruption. In short, it is the proper means of circulation for the
matter of this world, by raising up the water of the ocean, and pouring
it forth upon the surface of the earth.
Such is the mechanism of the globe: Let us now mention some of those
powers by which motion is produced, and activity procured to the mere
machine.
First, There is the progressive force, or moving power, by which this
planetary body, if solely actuated, would depart continually from the
path which it now pursues, and thus be for ever removed from its end,
whether as a planetary body, or as a globe sustaining plants and
animals, which may be termed a living world.
But this moving body is also actuated by gravitation, which inclines
it directly to the central body of the sun. Thus it is made to revolve
about that luminary, and to preserve its path.
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